


Gems of the South

by orphan_account



Category: South Park, 宝石の国 | Houseki no Kuni | Land of the Lustrous (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Body Horror, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:30:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15601365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Their home that carries a hidden past. Hunters from the moon who take away the immortal children. The children themselves who are made of precious gemstones. Their caretaker with an untold consequence. The world's hidden story disguised as a myth hailing from the ocean's aquatic inhabitants and memories that want to be remembered. What could possibly go wrong?





	1. Calcite

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this, remember that I appreciate comments on how to improve. Also, Quotev doesn't allow imports so I had to copy/paste every single chapter on here. Enjoy my suffering.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of our story. Calcite goes out with Emerald for the collection of reports before the day ends.

Butters- Calcite (3)

Scott Malkinson- Emerald (7)

Token- Purple Diamond (10)

Stan- Chalcedony (7)

Kyle- Carnelian (7)

Mayor McDaniels [mentioned]- Ma'am Aleaqiq (?)

\-------------------------------------------------

"Emerald? Emerald, where are you?"

A voice called out, echoing from the various pillars and the big empty space just behind them. The voice was followed by heavy clunk-clunks, sounding almost like footprints.

Both of these came from a boy with pale, powdery skin wearing what appeared to be some sort of uniform, with a white shirt sporting droopy sleeves and black shorts with equally black suspenders. The (only) clump of hair that laid itself down on his head shone like a star, and made a sound like that of wind chimes. Both his hair, his eyes, and even his nails were of the same brownish-yellowy color (except the nails on his left; they were clearly a lighter and more yellow shade) of a strange, quiet beauty that was complimented by his childlike gaze.

His name was Calcite. 

He called out again and his voice rang out into the clearly empty corridor he was in. "Emerald, c'mon! I need to go out for inspection duty and Ma'am Aleaqiq would be furious if I went out on my own again!"

"Looking for Emerald, lil' Three?" A second voice came out and Calcite looked behind him. Another boy with a darker powder and a buzz cut taming his dark purple crown of curly hair approached him, a bowl of resin tucked under the crook of his arm. He wore the same uniform as Calcite, but underneath a white doctor's cloak and lined black boots that were made of a finer material than the other's shoes that were more weather-appropriate.

"Purple! I told you not to call me that, you know how I feel about that number!" He took out a pencil from his pocket and jabbed the flat end at the other's direction. Purple Diamond simply chuckled and approached the irritated Gem. "You little guys are really too entertaining for such boring positions." "It's not boring..." Calcite frowned.

"Whatever. Emerald's down in the basement helping out Bismuth with their new weapons. I wouldn't be surprised if they broke an arm off already." Purple patted the other's head in a joking manner, then went back on his way to a clinic that was on the other side of the corridor. Calcite looked on at his direction and sighed, then headed to the stairs that lead to the blacksmith's workshop, grumbling along the way. "Stupid Diamond, calling me a number Three.  All these years, and I still have no idea how a quack doc like them can be considered useful..."

 

An hour later, a Gem, this time with a gorgeous shade of green and a full mop of hair, was sprinting across a meadow dotted with flowers of various colors, all of them not much taller than the grass blades themselves. Strapped to his back with white rope along with a sword in its scabbard was Calcite, clutching his beloved clipboard to his chest.

"You know how weird it is with the sky looking uglier than usual whenever its summer?" the Gem carrying him hummed, then gave a reply. "Yeah, it is pretty weird. You ever wondered why its like that?" Because you can't hear them through text and can only imagine their voices, let me pause the story just to tell you that the green Gem, Emerald, was born with a chip in his tongue, so he has a lisp.

"Maybe its because we hi-" "Heads up, we're here," Emerald skidded to a halt, dirt flying, and in mere seconds was trotting towards a pair of Gems, one with brilliant red curls on his head and the other with a cool, inviting shade of blue hair shining in the afternoon light.

"Afternoon, you two!" He greeted, unstrapping the yellow boy from his back with one hand and waving with the other. 

"Em, you really need to stop carrying Cal like that." The blue haired boy, Chalcedony, pointed at some loose rope wrapped around Calcite's ankle, Calcite himself (lamely) trying to wiggle his foot out.

Chalcedony was the only Gem so far who fought with two swords, as noted with the two scabbards tied together to form an X. His patrol partner, Carnelian, had expressed his concern for his safety multiple times, but his friend only got more set on practicing the technique.

"At least its better than getting dragged around by this speedy chunk of rock," the yellow Gem tugged at the rope some more until it loosened and he thumped to the ground. He smiled up to the three Gems above him, one with an exasperated yet amused smile back, another with his lips pressed tight together, and the last one just really disappointed and thinking about how stupid Calcite was. "I'm okay." 

"In the name of the damned moons of the equally damned Moonies above, how the hell do you manage to deal with him?" Carnelian mumbled as Emerald helped the poor secretary up.  
"To counter that question, how does Chalsy deal with you constantly complaining?" "I DO NOT COMPLAIN THAT OFTEN! YOU'RE MEAN!!" Emerald eyed the blue eyed Gem and sent him a smirk, one that most likely said, yes he does.

All Chalcedony could do was shrug and smile back.


	2. Roles to Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Calcite doing his job, like in the last chapter. This one's very short and I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this.

Clyde- Amber (2)

Kenny- Orange Topaz (8)

\------------------------------

The rest of the afternoon for Calcite was interrogation after interrogation with every single patrol group that was out, from two Sapphires from the Sapphire Troop assigned to a certain beach that was sometimes a major target, to the mainly mute Orange Topaz, who often worked alone (and within the range of the next group) in the plains not far from the school they lived in. Interrogating him especially was difficult. 

"Has there been any activity in the sky lately? Aside from the birds, of course." The Gem gave one look at the clouds and late afternoon sky, then shook his head sideways.

"You know, you could stop keeping your mouth shut, Ma'am Aleaqiq wouldn't mind."

That statement from Emerald earned a jab in the hips from the secretary. 

Orange Topaz's head shook even harder, prompting Calcite to write on the paper, "Negative. No sighting."

"Thanks for your report, and sorry for them being so rude."

Calcite, now presently in the school, sighed as he walked down the corridors by himself. 

After reaching the school, Emerald had to leave his side so he could wake up early the next day. He couldn't blame him, as the sun was already halfway down, creating long shadows. The light from the jellyfish they had was more than needed to see, but he wished there was a way to somehow trap some sunlight. Jellyfish light wasn't as good when it came to needing energy for long nights. 

Then again, he could ask the Nocturnals for some of their bioluminescent fungi, but he wasn't so desperate. 

After all, who would want an extra eight hours awake with no company except them?

As he approached one of the four clinics that were located in every corner of the school, he could see the two doctors that were in charge of piecing back their comrades:

Purple Diamond, who was more on annoying the heck out of Calcite and assembling them, and Amber who was now their main source of tree sap for the resin they use and was more like a nurse. 

Gathering up all his self control (and his compulsive desire to crack off Purple's face), he headed over to the two of them for their report. 


	3. The most terrible chapter in this entire story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive me for this chapter. It could have been done better but I'm too lazy so here we are.

Karen- Green Topaz (8)

Craig- Blue Garnet (7.5)

\-------------------------- 

It was already morning. The night passed faster than he expected. 

Usually, he'd be asleep by the time the sun came up, but he had been out all night soaking up the starlight for this trip. 

The first part of his name wasn't Star for nothing, anyways. 

He peeked out of his hideyhole to inspect the weather. 

It was extremely cloudy, but not in the way that would mean rain. 

Good, he was not intent on being taken today, especially when he was out to restock. 

This better not take longer than needed. 

 

"So yeah, that's how I got these eyes."

Meanwhile, somewhere in one of the many rooms on the bottom floor, a Gem was finishing up a story for two of the younger Gems in front of him. He was sitting on a bed that was carved into the wall, in front of them. One of them had hair similar to Calcite, but more pale and shiny, and perfectly round eyes, while the other had green hair tied into very cute pigtails with black-and-white striped scrunchies. 

As for the older Gem, the thing that every other Gem would say that made him stand out the most were his black stiletto heels. 

Yes, you read that right. Black. Stiletto. Heels.

Piss off, he's fabulous. 

However, his hair was also very unique, stating as how it's the same color as Chalcedony (which is the Lunarians' favorite color by the way) and how it was styled in a way so that two parts on each side of his head were long enough to droop down and rest on his shoulders. 

Now then, back to the story.

"So, what're they made of? The eyes I mean." The boy with perfectly round eyes raised his hand politely. After all, he was to be the new secretary if the current one, Calcite, needed help or was stolen away, so a person for the position had to be polite.

"Oh yeah. They're made of aquamarine." Raised eyebrow from the young Gem taking notes on his clipboard. "And by aquamarine, I mean the hair strands Aquamarine was willing to spare."

The young one puffed with satisfaction and pocketed the pencil, then stood up, helping the green haired girl next to him to her feet. "Thanks for helping me in my practise assignment!"

"Yeah, I'm not really that interesting of a person to interrogate though." Blue Garnet huffed as he stood up and retrieved a pack of cards from under his pillow. "If anything, you should be interrogating-"

"Star Sapphire's here!!"

Excited squeals burst out from various corners of the school after that one sentence was (rather loudly) spoken. "Who's that?" The green haired girl asked. 

"Oh yeah. I forgot you were born before they left, Green."

"Star Sapphire is the leader of the Sapphire Troop."

 

Meanwhile, a lone figure skidded to a halt just outside the school grounds.


	4. A visit from Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star Sapphire drops by for necessities and ends up being swarmed by old fans. Hopefully this chapter makes up for the last one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there will be OCs featured in here. If you want to have one be a character or something in the story, go ahead and say so in the comments!

Warren Asphodel (mine)- Star Sapphire (9)

Bebe- Pink Pearl (4.5)

Ike- Moissanite (9.5)

\-----------------------------

A lone figure skidded to a halt just outside of the school grounds. 

That was where we left off, and where we're picking up. 

The figure, which was yet another Gem, took a deep breath in as he untied his very long hair, resulting in an orchestra of wind chimes as the hair tumbled down until it was hanging above his uniform shoes. The color of his hair was a deep blue with the smallest hints of purple, and his one visible left eye was the same color, except for the part where three white lines overlapped each other to form a sort of six-rayed star. The center of this star was over the center part of the eye. 

From the eyes and hair alone, this Gem was obviously Star Sapphire.

A sack made of some sort of rough cloth was tucked underneath the crook of his arm as he walked through the seemingly empty corridors of the school.

'At least nobody's noticed me yet,' he thought to himself. 

Boy, was he wrong. 

"It's them!!" A voice screamed excitedly as a cluster of other Gems suddenly burst from behind a large pillar. Star Sapphire froze in his tracks.

... 'Shit.'

Moments later, at one of the clinics, Amber was putting a container full of newly made resin in a cubbyhole when a flash of blue shot past the corner of his eye. A split second after, a mob of Gems rushed past the clinic, making the floor tremble so much that the ladder he was on began to shake. "No running in the clinic! How many times do me and Purple have to state that?!" The poor nurse yelled at he held on for dear life. 

"You don't understand! Star's here!" One of the mob's members stopped in their tracks to explain to the frazzled nurse, then ran back to their group.

Amber climbed down the ladder as soon as the mob had left, then laid himself down on the floor and rocked himself to sleep. 

 

"Where's they go?"

The crowd below looked around them in one of the wide corridors leading to the pond. They had been chasing Star Sapphire, and were certain that he would have nowhere to go if they turned a left to this corridor. Until he disappeared.

After a couple minutes of looking around, they gave up and the mob dispersed, leaving the entire ground floor of the school quiet again. 

Thankfully, none of them had considered looking up, where Star was hanging on to the top of one of the pillars.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he slid down and picked up the sack he placed behind the pillar, then headed for a nearby room.

 

"Come in," Pink Pearl said to the door, busy with the worn fall uniform in her hands. 

Star Sapphire opened the door, pushing aside some stray cloth scraps. "Hey, Pink P. Long time no see," he greeted. "Hey Star," she said absently, focused primarily on stitching up the holes and tears. 

"Um, who's uniform is that? Orange Topaz?" "Yeah, I wanted to do them a favor by stitching up all their fall uniforms." Pink chuckled, putting down the uniform and grabbing a pair of scissors across her to cut another piece off the bolt of cloth, "You know them, always getting shot into pieces."

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten that yet." Star replied, covering a large yawn with his hand.

"Did you sleep well?" Pink asked, turning around in her seat to look at him properly. Leaves and speckles of dirt were all over his nice white top. "..." "I had to get here quickly. Didn't help that it's been raining a lot the past few days." "Do you want me to wash it for you? Are you fine with-" "Pink, like I said, it's fi-"

Crash

"..."

The conversation didn't continue further than that as Star Sapphire had fallen down. "Um, Star? You okay?" She asked, sliding off her chair and crouching down. He didn't move. He was just. 

Lying down there. 

...

... I think he fell asleep. 

"Oh, hey. There they are."

Pink Pearl looked up to see Moissanite, carrying a large sheet in his arms. 

"... Why do you have that?"

"Ma'am told me that they would most likely be asleep a while after they came here," he answered, walking over and spreading the sheet over the sleeping Sapphire.

Coincidentally enough, the sheet was as large as the black sheets they used to carry back broken fighters. 

"Please tell me you aren't gonna let them nap near Rutile," Pink said, standing up and giving him a worried look. Moissanite did questionable things at his age. "Don't worry, I'm not an idiot like some of the others," He answered, tying up the ends of the sheet and lifting up the tied up part near Star's feet.

"Now come on and help me; I can't carry them to the pond by myself. And I asked Green to look after them while they napped, and they're probably tired of waiting for us. You know how Topazes are."


	5. Two Sapphires, one fatass Rutile, and a one-sided fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light-Blue Sapphire beats the shit out of Rutile.

_Kat Holloway (imagineannemorgan on Tumblr)- Light-Blue Sapphire (9)_

_Cartman- Rutile (6)_

_Wendy- Pink Sapphire (9)_

_____

 

Green Topaz was sure that she'd been sitting beside the pond and the sleeping Star Sapphire for about three to five hours. 

She could tell because of all the drawings piled up beside her.

Green Topaz was born with the most perfect photographic memory out of all the Gems in the school so far. When she was just 20 years old and managed to answer all of Ma'am Aleaqiq's questions about the different varieties of flowers perfectly, everyone had thought that she was the smartest Gem of the generation to be born- until she told them that she just read up on the island's flora beforehand.

She was given a good smack on the head by Blue Diamond because he thought she cheated. 

As she grew older, they found that she was better at art because of how accurate her drawings were (and how she actually had good art skills) so even though she was already going out on patrols like most of the Gems, they would turn to her for things from illustrations in books, to just a portrait of a friend. Usually, the one to request that last one frequently was Carnelian or Chalcedony, but those two had a falling-out quite recently.

She was in the middle of sketching herself drop-kicking Rutile to the moons (because who wouldn't want to imagine that?) when Star rose and let out a huge yawn. 

"How long was I asleep?" He asked, stretching his arms. Then he looked down at his clothes to find that he was in his pajamas.

"Let me guess. Pink P. took my uniform and left to wash it?" "Yeah, basically," Green said, putting down her sketchpad and pencil.

Star looked over at Green and squinted. "Hm... You look famil-"

"Hey, Star!" a voice called out as Light-Blue Sapphire walked up to them. "I heard you were back and I just wanted you to know that I got everyone else to refill your supplies, you'll be good to go in a bit."

"Thanks, Blue." "It's Light-Blue, actually." "What, there's another Sapphire out already?" Light-Blue sighed. "No, Dark-Blue's around your age." "Really?" Star exclaimed in surprise. "You mean- Well of course I wouldn't notice."

An awkward silence came to be amongst the three Gems. Star was never one for remembering other people, especially after that incident.

Breaking the silence were heavy footsteps. "Gem dust,  _she's_ here," Light-Blue muttered as the footsteps thundered closer. "Language, Light-Blue." "Sorry."

"Well, well, well, if it ain't the lousy excuses for Sapphires," a very fat-sounding, very annoying voice said, belonging to none other than Rutile himself. 

"Well at least we don't sleep through half the day, boulder." Light-Blue spat back, glaring at him. 

Rutile was a special case. He was born much larger than most of the gems and because of his condition, he had to sleep for almost an additional 7 hours in the morning just to be able to function. (so don't bother telling him to put on a shirt like everyone else: his back has no powder so he could absorb more sunlight.) Ma'am Aleaqiq said that this was why he was 'grumpy' most of the time, but everyone knew that he was an annoyance even before he had the additional sleeping hours. 

"What, no 'good afternoon' for me?" "Those words would go to waste against a useless lump like you." "Hey! At least I don't have to beg for attention!" "What does that even mean??"

"Here we go again..." Green sighed as more gems began to gather around the commotion. Light-Blue and Rutile had never been on good terms with each other, and got into more arguments than Carnelian himself. 

"Oh, you mean you Sapphires actually aren't as perfect as you say you are??" Rutile sneered at her. "First of all, Pink-...  **FUCK IT!** You're going to get the smacking you deserve!" She pulled off her black gloves and threw them in the pond, where they started to sink down before a jellyfish bubbled up and grabbed them with its tentacles. 

The gems that had been watching them started cheering, some clapping their hands. Star started to scooch towards a nearby pillar, and Green picked him up, then dragged him behind it and jumped into the pond herself.

Light-Blue and Rutile started to circle each other slowly, each giving the other a hate-fueled stare. The crowd just fed their aggression even more as Rutile's heavy fists balled and Light-Blue's footsteps grew louder. 

"Why are we watching this?" Carnelian asked, standing beside Chalcedony who was watching the standoff. "All of us are bored. Lighten up and try to enjoy the show." "... I'll go read in the library..." And off went Carnelian. 

The standoff lasted for an entire three minutes until Rutile swung his fist at her. Light-Blue ducked and it flew over her, then she stepped to the side and grabbed the fist, pulling at it with all her might. 

The entire hand snapped off and the crowd went wild.

"You **SON OF A** **BITCH!** " Rutile yelled and jabbed the sharp stump at her. Light-Blue evaded each jab after jab, then threw a punch aimed at his head. 

The crowd went silent as more than half of Rutile's entire head shattered and fell onto the floor. 

The nearly headless Gem staggered around for a few seconds, then, with his one remaining yellow-green eye, stared at Light-Blue and her smug face. 

With a loud thud, he fell forward and hit the ground. 

The crowd dispersed almost as fast as they came, and the pillars near the pond were once again silent. 

"... I'll go get Purple." Light-Blue said, then ran off, her footsteps echoing. 

Green Topaz, now with most of her powder washed off, burst out of the pond and climbed out, dripping wet. She peeled a stray jellyfish off her back, then stared at her arm and grimaced. "Gross. Should've known to put on saltwater resin this morning."

"You okay, Star?" She asked the same pillar that Star was dragged behind. Star popped out and grimaced harder than Green. "Ewww, now you're all naked!" "Yeah, I'll put on powder as soon as I'm dry. You wanna see if your uniform is already done?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first arc is finished!!


	6. Pounder Arrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It begins.

It had been just a few days after Star disappeared to wherever he hid, and everyone had gone back to work as usual.

"I think fall season's gonna start tomorrow," Emerald guessed, starting up a chat with Calcite on the way to the next patrol group. "Nah, fall season can't start overnight. I say it's starting next week." Calcite said, fiddling with his pencil.

"Mmmmm. And why are you carrying a sword? How come I didn't notice that all day?" Emerald asked, pointing at the scabbard hanging behind the secretary. "Oh. Pink S said there was going to be a 74% chance of them appearing, so at least I'm prepared."

"Hmmmm. Sure. Believe the Gem who lost her left arm."  
"Hey! I got a better arm after that, and it's made of Quartz!"

"..."

"What? You upset at how cool and right I-"   
"Shhh." Emerald put up a gloved finger on Calcite's lips, then grabbed him by the chin, turned his head, and pointed to the sky. 

Where a sunspot was slowly appearing, like ink in water. 

"Sunspot. A six-rayed one, too. We should go repo-"  
"We can handle this!" Calcite said, pulling out his sword and tossing the scabbard aside, then dropping his clipboard next to a small sapling. "Cal, no! We don't know if it's a new type or just an old one!!" "Hey, since when were you the one being cautious?"

"... I'll go call Ma'am and the others." Off zoomed Emerald towards the direction of the school. In about 30 minutes or more, the bell would ring and all the other Gems would be dashing alongside Ma'am, and Ma'am would disperse the sunspot with a snap. 

If the Lunarians hadn't taken him already. 

Calcite sighed and readied himself for battle as the sunspot grew larger in size, spreading out until the thin lines were instead one large, impossibly black blob floating against the clear sunny sky. 

And out of the blackness came white figures standing on a pedestal-like, pitch-black platform, dressed intricately like war dolls, their eyes pale white and void of pupils.

These were the beings known as Lunarians.

A supremely large one stood in the middle of the platform, obviously dressed more elegantly than the sentries surrounding it, holding a large bowl for the gem shards to be placed in. Various Lunarians were gathered eagerly in the front, bows and arrows waiting for a silent command to start shooting at their lone target. Other Lunarians who were closer to the large one played instruments, banged on drums, and threw the palest pink petals into the air, which fluttered around almost harmlessly. 

As Calcite stood his ground, his sword ready by his side, the ones in the front readied their bows and pulled their drawstrings in unison, the arrowheads glinting in the sunlight.

The moment their fingers released and the arrows shot through the air towards Calcite, the battle had begun. 

Calcite brought up his sword and blocked the arrows, just like how he'd seen the others do, and deflected the attack, the fragile bodies of the arrows breaking. They let out more and more volleys, and Calcite just deflected them all, occasionally moving further back to get a better stance. 

Amongst all the intense action and the blurs of the arrows, he didn't notice the one arrow with a yellow cylinder-shaped arrowhead, that was barreling towards him. 

 

**_Kshii_ **

 

Calcite stared in shock as the arrow hit his right arm and pulverized it into powder. 

This wasn't supposed to be possible. None of the Lunarian attacks were like this. 

None of them were supposed to pulverize gemstones into powder. 

Another ruthless volley of arrows charged at him, and at the last second he managed to deflect them, although rather shakily since he wasn't used to fighting with his left arm.  

 _'You can get a new arm after this, just keep calm and don't let them take you away,'_  he told himself silently as he kept deflecting more volleys, the stump where his arm was supposed to be glinting in the sunlight. 

_'Where were they? They should have come by now._

_Maybe Emerald was sidetracked or something. No, she would never be sidetracked when it came to stuff like this._

_I'm tired. Really, really tired. I wanna- **!!** '_

He caught himself again as a volley larger than all the others came flying at him, and with one swing, he managed to catch all the arrows that would hit him with the sword, and swung them back at the sunspot. 

Somehow, with all the luck in existence, the arrows managed to hit the upper torso so hard that it got ripped off and the sunspot started to dissolve. 

" **Calcite!!** "

He turned his head to see a colorful array of glinting lights and a tall figure that stood out quite literally from everything else coming towards him. Emerald was amongst them, waving his arms frantically. He gave them a tired smile, and lowered his sword. The cavalry was here. 

"I told you, Emerald, I could handle i-"

 

**_Kchiii_ **

 

_..._

_... Ah._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_... That was..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_.._

_._

_._

 

The sun had finally gone below the horizon, and night had fallen over the little island. The stars came out, one by one, glittering in the sky like little gemstones were stitched onto the inky blackness. Three or four of the seven moons hung heavy in the deep, deep sky, leaving out a white light to shine on what it could land on. The stray light reached into a cave somewhere in the small mountain tucked into the middle of the island, and halted when it reached Star Sapphire's slumbering form. 

His eyes slid open, and he slowly got up, stretching his arms and letting out a little yawn. He looked out of the mouth of his little cave and outwards to the still flora that populated this little island of the Lustrous, and outwards even more onto the ocean that seemed to dance under the moonlight. 

And from the right side of the cave's mouth popped up Emerald. "I was looking for you."

" **!!** " The sapphire jumped a little bit and scuttled backwards, staring at him with a look of surprise. "... You're awake?"

"Yeah, I had to be to ask you something," Emerald replied, scratching the back of his neck. As Star continued to stare at him, he let out a huge yawn. 

"What... Do you need to ask me?" He asked nervously. He hoped this wouldn't take longer than needed. 

"Look, uh... You need to come with me for this kind of thing." Emerald's eyes shifted to the floor, unsure of whether Star would consent. 

"What do you mean, 'this kind of thing'?"

"..."

"What?"

"... Something happened to Calcite."

"I can't go unless you tell me what exactly happened to that girl."

"Can you just come with me and see for yourself?" Emerald huffed.

"Fine," Star said, getting up and dusting his shorts off. "this better not be as terrible as I think it is."

 

Twenty minutes later, Star was gaping with horror at the headless form of Calcite. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:)


	7. Let Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain head is offered up for Calcite.

The headless form of Calcite was laid down lifelessly on the operating table in front of Star Sapphire and Emerald, his entire right arm gone like his head. 

"Where's her head?" Star asked nervously into the silence. "You have her head, right??"

"Yeah, we do," said Purple Diamond, showing him a bowl full of golden brown powder, "but this is all we have left." "Is that..." Star started to ask him, but shut his mouth and lowered his head. He knew what the powder was, and it brought back some bad memories. 

"Where's Ma'am? Wasn't she here a while ago?" Emerald looked around for signs of their mistress and caretaker. "She kinda told us to stay here while she went to see if Bismuth could share some of the big shell downstairs." "Wow, Ma'am moving around more than often? That's a first." "Yeah, well, this is the first time something like this happened." Purple looked at Calcite's body, his face showing both relief and a bit of worry.

Star said nothing, as usual. He always felt like he had nothing good to say at times like this.

"... You can go now. We were just hoping if you could... Y'know..." Purple said, seeing how awkward Star looked. 

Star nodded, then began the sprint off to his little space. Purple looked at Emerald and asked, "By the way, how did you know where they live?"

Emerald merely winked. 

 

"I don't want to let you go," Star confessed.  He was back in his cave, sitting at the mouth.

 _"It's okay,"_   a somewhat disembodied voice that felt as if it barely existed tried to reassure him.  "I know it's fine with you already, but I still don't..." Star sighed. "I don't even know why I thought of it. I should be ashamed of myself especially after what happened to you."

 _"You shouldn't feel bad about wanting to let go,"_  the voice said, Star touching his shoulder as if a hand was placed on it. "Why? You were my only friend. The last thing I want to do is let the last thing I have from you go." _"It's better for the both of us. You can't just stay sad over me forever, y'know?"_

Star said nothing at this. He could feel the comforting warmth of the world wrap him in what felt like a hug, then disappear as quickly as it came. He sighed, then asked, "Is it too late for me to do otherwise?"

 

_... Crrrkk._

 

Star was silent again.

"...Fine," he said to no one, getting up and looking into his cave. A bowl containing a single jellyfish was placed in the middle of the cave's floor, the light coming from it barely touching the edge of a white box sitting in the corner, shining like it had been cleaned frequently. He smiled sadly, very much feeling the guilt of letting the last part of his only friend go.  "I'll do it tomorrow night, okay?"

 

They all didn't know what to do. 

Purple and Amber had gone around the school again, asking various Gems if they could help. None of them were willing to give up their hair, and the Gems who had cut off their hair to look more fashionable had apparently regretted it and weren't willing to give up the leftover parts either. Especially Carnelian, who fought them off with Ruby's trident. 

Ruby punched him square in the chest and he had to be put back together, but Chalcedony had hidden the box and refused to tell them where it was. 

Now it was nighttime again and Amber leaned against a pillar, screaming out his frustrations to the world. 

"Amber, please shut up," Purple murmured, lying down on the operating table next to the (still) headless body of Calcite. This time, they had covered it with a white cloth.  "You shut up. This is a much better way of letting out the stress." Amber paused his screaming to tell that to Purple, then went back to using his voice to nearly deafen the world with his frustration put into very unwanted noises. 

"Will someone please chop her mouth off?" Star said, appearing behind the table Purple was lying down on. Both of the Gems jumped a little and stared at him, very much surprised.

"...how long were you there?" Amber asked. "Long enough to know that you should stop making those noises," Star answered, placing a long cloth tied up with some string onto the table after shoving off Purple, then placing a white box gingerly next to it.

Purple noticed something was off at first, but it was Amber who said, "Star, did you cut your hair?" "Huh? Oh yeah, I did," he said almost nonchalantly as he untied the string to reveal the hair clump that he had cut off to make his bangs. "Will this much be enough for the new arm?"

Amber got up and walked towards the two of them, then slipped on black gloves and picked up one end, inspecting it. "Your hair is one inch and a half thick, but its length makes up for it, so yeah. It'll be good enough." "No one was willing to give us any of their hair. You mind cutting off some more so we can make the head?" Purple asked, tilting his head. Star squinted at him, then sighed, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, no. I love my hair way too much to do so."

"Don't we all?" Purple shot back sarcastically. 

"But," Star continued, choosing to ignore that last statement, "I have something that might be better than making a new head from scratch."

His hands moved towards the box, gently pulling off the box cover and unwrapping the cloth from the precious object inside. 

Both Purple Diamond and Amber looked on with shock as he slowly lifted a head from the box, then placed it on the table in front of them, the head's back facing him. 

They both knew whose head it was, from the closed angelic eyes, to the hair that was cut just above the stump of a neck, yet somehow managed to fan out when the head was placed on the tabletop. 

The only two doctors in the whole school stared at the head as Star Sapphire said with a hint of sadness in his voice,

"I offer to you the head of Citrine."


	8. Eashiqua Aleaqiq

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star's poor rock butt is saved by Ruby. Also, Calcite's head surgery goes better than expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I getting more used to this website or it it me?

_Theodora Hamish (mine)- Ruby (9)_

_Jaime Santos and Ghost Pony (dedsec-pony on Tumblr)- Bertrandite twins (7)_

* * *

The head of Citrine rested on the table as Purple started yelling furiously at Star. 

"Why didn't you tell us you found their head??" "I'm sorry! I planned on telling you guys someti-"

The floor beneath Purple's feet cracked as he rudely interrupted his sentence. "I may not have the ability to read minds, but I'm sure that all of us honestly don't know what you saw in that good for nothing Citrine. Why would someone like you even be interested in befriending them?" He growled menacingly.

Star said nothing at this, but small cracks that started to form in his eyes were more than enough to say that he now felt even worse than his normal state the past few decades. 

Purple opened his mouth and was just about to say something that would definitely make him break apart when all of a sudden-

**_Kchiii_ **

His leg was broken off by a familiar black-and-white trident that flew out of the dark gap between two pillars. 

"I heard you were talking smack to my little  _uhkt_ , ya stinker," A familiarly fruity voice rang out as a girl with the same powder as Purple emerged from the shadows, her brilliantly red hair and eyes shining like... Well, herself. "And I don't think that was the wisest decision."

"Ruby?" Star peeped out as she cooly approached them, her white kitten heels letting out odd-sounding clicks. Her uniform itself was unique enough to make her pop out, with the shirt and shorts' colors switched around so that white cloth brushed against her bare thighs. 

She gave a friendly smile to him and waved at her fellow corundum, then turned to give a cold look at Purple, who had fallen to the floor and was currently trying to reach for his leg. "What were you thinking when you opened your mouth??"

"I wasn't- I didn't think you'd hear!" He protested, then muttered under his breath, "Or that you'd care."

"I heard that, Purps," Ruby stated loudly, planting her foot on top of his leg stump firmly. The doctor squealed but she merely ignored it, leaning over him and giving him a look that spelled disappointment and scorn.

After a few minutes of her silently glaring at him, her kochiba-brown leg stretched up gracefully, the toe of her white kitten-heel poking the air as she let out a large yawn, then planted it back where it should be and nonchalantly smiled as if nothing happened. "I'm gonna head to bed now, hope you finish with the head by the time everyone wakes up," she said, her eyes giving off an odd glint. She nodded at the remaining Gems that weren't on the floor, then spun around on her heel and headed into the shadows.

Amber and Star stared at her direction, then the honey-brown doctor turned to look at the Sapphire. "So... um... You wanna help with Purple?"

 

Amber smacked Purple's hand away from the tray of tools. "You idiot! You don't use that tool for precise cuts." "Well, what the heck am I supposed to use then??"

Just like what any other pair of doctors would (not) do, they started arguing about what tools to use for sticking Citrine's head on Calcite.

"This tool is easy to work with and isn't as small or bulky as any other tool you're probably gonna make me use!" Purple said as he held up a tool that looked vaguely like a butter knife, and was probably not the right one to use.

"Well, maybe if you've been doing this far longer than I have and learned from an actual professional, you would know that you use  _this_  one!" Amber shot back, pulling up a slender scalpel and jabbing it towards his face, then turning his attention towards the stump of the head. If they were going to attach the head onto the neck, it would need to be reshaped so that the head could slip on.

He chipped away bit by bit, occasionally taking a glance at the head right beside him as to get a proper look at what other spots he should reshape, and placing the decent-sized chips into a tiny mason jar with a linen inside.

It was almost sad to think that everyone forgot that Amber, despite his sensitivity and so-called 'stupidity,' was the one doctor that kept everyone from falling apart before Purple came into the scene.

 

"Thank you all for gathering here today." Ma'am Aleaqiq greeted the Gems that gathered in front of her.

The majority of them all wore worried looks on their faces. To the side of the crowd, Purple Diamond and Amber were trying to stifle their yawns from working all night.

But they ultimately failed and the Bertrandite twins, who were standing in front of them, ended up crackling with electricity. "Shut up," they threatened in unison and the yawns miraculously disappeared.

"We know that the... shattering of Calcite's head and arm were traumatizing for many of us. I myself am still unsure about what had happened." She continued, her eyes shifting subtly to the floor. Even for someone as old as her, she still wasn't comfortable in this kind of situation. "But luckily, we were able to find a substitute head for them." At this, the Gems all perked up and continued to listen to her while Ruby, who was leaning against a pillar away from most of them smiled. "Last night, Star came to their body and not only generously offered up a piece of their hair for their new arm, but also the long-lost head of Citrine. It's been attached to them already but we are still waiting for results to come in."

Whispers came up as some of the Gems began to chatter amongst themselves. This was good, right? So why did something feel weird? 

"... In the meantime, winter may be approaching, but feel free to do what you can to help out until they awaken. Moissanite, come with me," She beckoned, waving a finger for him as she headed towards the stairs leading to the third floor where she resided. "I'm going to have to talk to you about being the secretary in the meantime."

"Wait, what??" Moissanite yelled and began to run after her, while the rest of the Gems headed over to the clinic where Calcite's body was currently located. Later on, the doctors would move him to his room and cover him with a sheet so he could rest properly.

"What do you think goes on in their head when they're unconscious?" Carnelian pondered, gazing upon Calcite's resting form. "I don't know," Ruby replied, doing as he did, "but whatever he's even thinking about could be interesting." "Hmm." ...

They looked on his form in a comforting silence, thinking thoughts about Calcite. Whether he'd return as his own self or be split into two personalities, how he was such a fun little sibling back then, his old self long before he even lost his left arm, you know. Those kinds of thoughts.

...

In the midst of the silence, Emerald, who was sitting on a nearby chair, suddenly let out a loud gasp and nearly toppled over. The two red Gems turned or lifted their heads to look at him. "What?"

"Today was supposed to be their birthday!!" He exclaimed as he leaped to his feet, then ran out to the nearest flower field. Ruby yelped and went after him, her heels going  _kliki-kliki_  against the school's cool quartz floor. "Where the heck do you think you're going??"

Fifteen minutes later, Ruby and Emerald were squirming into Calcite's room with a large flower wreath that was supposed to hang above the bedhole. Its flowers and leaves were shining with the smallest glossy hint of amber, and that's because they were coated in the raw liquid stuff that occasionally leaked out of Amber's eyes to preserve them.

Just in case Calcite was to wake up longer than the plants themselves could last.

"Happy 237th birthday, Cal." Emerald greeted the still body as he held the ginormous wreath while Ruby attempted to hammer a nail into the wall.


	9. Check-In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few years after the incident, spring begins once again for the Gems, and somebody visits a recovering patient.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOOOOO, BOY, DID I PROCRASTINATE!  
> Hope this chapter was worth the wait, and if you get confused about some details, feel free to ask me in the comments below!

_A few years later._

____

The laughter of children tumbled through the air as Gems sprung out of the school.

Hibernation was over and spring had just begun.

Some of them danced around, giggling gleefully as their leggy bodies moved with grace. Occasionally, one of them would trip, but they always got up and continued playing with their sisters and brothers.

Others continued napping on the still damp grass, letting their sleepy inclusions taste the fresh sunlight. Dainty butterflies colored gold flapped lazily around them, sometimes taking a little rest on their faces to lick up the salty mist that drifted inland from the ocean.

Still others chose to sit in the bountiful flower fields that peppered the island during carefree days like these, taking in the lovely smells, or combing through them for new types of flowers like Star Sapphire was with an empty basket by his side, or gathering them by the handful for grinding into paints, like Green Topaz, or making them into lovely flower crowns to be worn by others.

Like what Lemon Quartz and Emerald were doing right now.

“Augh, I give up!” Emerald exclaimed, throwing a cluster of flowers into the air. “Are you even thure thith type of braid workth??”

“Of course I am!” Lemon replied, obviously offended. A half-finished flower crown lay on his lap. “Don’t you know how many times I had to consult Carnelian just to get this right??”

“Well, you know how Carnelian thometimeth getth the equationth wrong...” Emerald muttered, looking balefully at a napping Carnelian over at the next flower field. Lemon sighed. “You probably aren’t doing it correct, obviously. Watch me again, and this time pay attention.” He snapped before continuing to braid the flower crown, this time holding it up so the green Gem can see.

He didn’t really see it correctly, as Lemon’s gloved hands were whipping back and forth on autopilot, barely letting any parts of the process show itself clearly.

“Go thlower! I can’t thee anything!” He squinted in an attempt to follow his swift movements, but they were only done in vain. His eyes hurt with the effort put in.

“... And that’s how you finish it off!” Lemon announced proudly, thrusting upwards to the sky a gorgeous flower crown with an intricate braid that seemed almost easy enough. “Did you finally get that, Eme...” He trailed off, seeing the frustrated look on the green gem’s face.

“... _**yOU FUCKING, UNAPPRECIATIVE- I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU-!!**_ ”

He threw it into the air with exasperation, and it flew off like a rocket, until it beaned an unsuspecting gem in the head. The poor gem toppled forward and hit the ground with a heavy _thunk_.

“I thought you were finally going to get your head out of the clouds!!” He screamed at him. “Well, you thought wrong!! I wathn’t daydreaming, your handth’re jutht too fucking fatht to thee clearly, how the fuck do you expect people to follow what you’re doing?!” He screamed back, anger bubbling out of him like a sunspot.

“Well, why the fuck did you even ask me in the first place?? There’s better things for you to do and-”

“ _I only athked you becauthe thhe liked thothe kindth of thingth!_ ” He interrupted loudly, feeling the need to defend himself and the other he was referring to.

The both of them stared at each other in silence. Lemon’s eyes were wider than ever from surprise, and Emerald’s were unwavering, showing a hint of hurt in them.

“... You referred to her like she got stolen away again.” Lemon said after composing his thoughts.

Emerald sighed and positioned himself so he was no longer leaning towards the other. “Thorry. It just feelth like thhe had been motht of the time,” he muttered, “Thith ith ath clothe ath I’ll get to knowing how our elderth feel.”

“You know she’ll feel bad if she heard you were talking about her like that lots of times, right?” He reminded him. “You’re going to owe her one hell of an apology.”

“I bet I’d thay that ath well if your thweet little Blue Garnet got broken like her,” he laughed as a light blush blossomed on Lemon’s cheeks.

“... Alright, this time I’ll go slower on you,” He finally said, plucking up a few flowers up to start a new session

___

After five more failed tries, he walked through the mostly empty halls of their beloved school, a colorful flower wreath grasped gently in his hands. The leaves and petals shone with a slightly brown twinkle, from the spare resin Amber leaked from his eyes sometimes to help preserve them for years to come. The setting sun’s dim but brilliant orange light bounced off his hair and the wreath, making the hallways dance with a hypnotic, bouncing light.

He passed by one of the clinics, where Purple Diamond was scolding the newborn gems who were playing around with the sharp tools again.

He reached one of the staircases leading up into the living quarters of the gems, right next to the reporting station where Moissanite scribbled down the reports sent in by everyone with a bored expression printed onto his still youthful face

He went past Carnelian’s room, the door slightly open to show Carnelian and Orange Topaz engaged in a rather intense card game with Pink Sapphire and Ruby. Occasionally, laughter and screams of competitive anger could be heard from the room, as well as some scuffling and the pings of crystal against crystal as the two Corundums celebrated another victory.

And opened the door softly to one of the undisturbed bedrooms, cringing slightly as the door’s hinges let out a rusty _scrweekk_ , likely due to it being left unattended to for years.

He stepped into the room almost gingerly, holding himself back from clutching the wreath too hard, as he looked upon a very familiar, and almost painful sight for him to bear.

Laying down on the bed embedded into the wall was an unconscious gem’s body, as still as ever. Hanging up over the gap in the wall was the enormous sized wreath he and Ruby had weaved together so long ago just so he could still get a birthday gift. Laying down in considerably unorganized heaps on the floor right in front of the bed were smaller wreaths of considerable deterioration, most long wilted and dead from the day they were weaved together.

He made his eyes greet the resting figure.

“Hey, Calcite. Thpring’th come around, ath uthual,” he greeted.

No response. Of course. He had made himself accustomed to that already.

“... Oh. I made you another one of thethe again,” he said, holding up the wreath as if Calcite was awake and taking a look, “Thought you might like it if I added in thome poppieth. They’re not thunflowerth, but they thhould technically be clothe enough, right?”

He placed the wreath down with a few others like it, preserved carefully in the same manner, and took a seat on the dusty floor. “Moiththanite’th doing a pretty good job ath thecretary, though I think the’th ththtarting to get bored.” He chuckled to himself.

No response still. The silence was deafening.

“...”

“... It’th been a hundred yearth thince you fell athleep,” he muttered into the not quite empty room, “and I’m thtill going to keep waiting until you wake up.”

Emerald stood up, something similar to sadness written clearly on his face as his gaze still held on to the slumbering body.

“But pleathe, wake up thoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify some stuff, the originally boy characters use she/her pronouns while the originally girl characters use he/him pronouns. Picked that interesting tidbit from LotL and thought it'd be an interesting way to show how different these guys are from the originals!


	10. Update (important)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm ending this fanfiction.

I was researching a bit more and realized that I got so many things wrong about gemstones.

You might think,  _"That's not important!! Just write the story, you're doing great!!"_

It is. It really is.

The thing about this AU is that it relies  _ **heavily**_ on the chemical makeup, cleavage system and etc etc of its gemstones. I wanted the characters to have gems that can still make sense both personality-wise and ability-wise. How else do you think Ichikawa-sensei made up the personalities her characters would get in Houseki no Kuni??

So I'll delete this fanfiction. Don't worry, I'll make a new one once I can get all the information I can get to make it legit, but this is still getting deleted. I'll give you all a little bit to read this, then i'll delete this and work on the new version, as well as the next chapter for Zaron has Fallen. (If you haven't checked that out, please do!)

Now if you'll please excuse me, I'll go cringe at my old stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates aren't regular, sorry. Also, once again, comments are appreciated!


End file.
